Happy in Houston

WASILLA — With only about three skaters on the bench on any given night, the Houston Hawks have taken their fair share of lumps this season. But on Thursday, the Hawks had reason to celebrate.

Houston scored five unanswered goals and skated to an 8-3 nonconference victory over the Delta Huskies at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla.

“It was nice to have a win. It kind of motivates the kids a little bit,” Houston head coach Mike Styers said. “We had five (wins) before Christmas, and now one since.”

The victory snapped a long losing skid that dates back to early December, a span that included an 0-8 stretch against Mid-Alaska Conference opponents.

“The conference is tough, but our numbers keep shrinking,” Styers said.

Houston is down to just eight skaters and two goalies, but despite being outnumbered once again — nearly 3-to-1 to the Huskies — the Hawks broke away from Delta during the final two periods to secure the win.

Houston scored six goals during the final two frames, and notched two of those goals within a six-second span midway through the second.

Sophomore Micah Ranum used a nifty stick move to fool Delta goalie Justin Carpenter and break a 3-3 tie at the 7:37 mark of the second. Six seconds later, off the ensuing face off, Rye Humphreys fired a wrist shot from the right circle into the far side of the net to give the Hawks the two-goal advantage.

Styers saw those two quick scores as the pivotal point in the game.

“That kind of breaks their backs,” Styers said. “They were working hard, playing well.”

Houston and Delta — a rivalry that dates back to the days when both programs stood at the top of the 3A level — traded leads through the first period-and-a-half of hockey.

Delta held the lead twice in the first, scoring a pair of power-play goals within the first 15 minutes of the game. After Humprhreys scored the first of his two goals in the second period, within the first two minutes of the second frame, Delta’s Harold Probert answered to tie the game at 3-3.

Ranum led the Hawks with the hat trick in the win. Humphreys and senior Jordan Cole scored two goals each.

Junior James Shuey also scored for HHS.

Both Houston goaltenders saw action in the game. Junior Ben Barenburg earned the start and stopped 11 shots in two periods of play. Senior Daniel Munoz played the third and was perfect during the final 15 minutes, stopping each of the 14 Delta shots he faced.

Delta recorded half of their shots in the game in the third period.

“He came out and played great,” Styers said.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Houston 8, Delta 3

Thursday, Menard Memorial Arena

Delta 2-1-0—3

Houston 2-3-3—8

First period — 1. Delta- Probert (Joe) pp 8:28, 2. Houston- Ranum (unassisted) 5:36, 3. Delta- J. Gebauer (Smith) pp 1:51, 4. Houston- Shuey

(Ranum, Humphreys) pp 1:04.

Second period — 5. Houston- Humphreys (Olson) 13:03, 6. Delta- Probert (Gebauer, Smith) 12:23, 7. Houston- Ranum (Van Hyning) 7:37, 8. Houston- Humphreys (unassisted) 7:31.

Third period — 9. Houston- Cole (unassisted) 12:47, 10. Houston- Cole (Ranum) 10:23, 11. Houston- Ranum (Humphreys) 3:35.

Shots on goal: Delta 7-7-14—28, Houston 11-7-12—30; Saves: Delta- Carpenter 9-4-9—22, Houston- Barenburg 5-6-x—11, Munoz x-x-14—14; Power plays: Delta 2-for-5, Houston 1-for-3.